A small fraction of remaining work on a strategically important western-corridor expansion plan for a 400 kV transmission system reaching Megalopoli, central Peloponnese, needed to facilitate green energy investments in the wider region, has once again been stopped as a result of objections raised by nuns at a nearby monastery in the Kalavryta area.

Completion of this project, budgeted at 110 million euros and being developed by power grid operator IPTO, would unlock green-energy investments worth millions.

However, the installation of two remaining transmission towers, at a 500-meter distance from the monastery, has essentially been blocked for 14 months by its nuns, citing construction of the towers, requiring between 60 to 80 days, would visually harass and impact the monastery’s tranquility. The project is 98-percent complete.

IPTO construction crews went back to work on November 25, only to swiftly prompt the reemergence of the monastery nuns, who used vehicles to block bulldozers from performing their tasks. The project contractor filed a law suit against the nuns on the very same day.

Two days later, the nuns retaliated with legal action of their own, which resulted in a temporary order from a local Court of First Instance requiring all work to stop until December 16, when the issue will be examined.